It’s been a great summer for festivals, and it’s not over yet. Bellwether Music Festival is coming to the Ohio Renaissance Festival fairgrounds August 10th and 11th. Promising two days of music featuring exciting up-and-comers, all-time great alternative acts, and some of the best local support Cincinnati has to offer, Bellwether is an end of summer festival that is not to be missed. While a little top heavy, the line-up for Saturday includes some of the greatest alternative acts of all time. Here are our picks for Saturday night.
Allah-Las On a day topped by some great retro acts, Allah-Las will bring their own faithful recreation of the sixties sound to the Sunset Stage. An L.A. four-piece that crosses the surf washed sounds of California with some of the great Brit garage rock bands (think the Zombies with more chill), Allah-Las will bring some low key groove to Saturday afternoon. They’re scheduled to take the stage at 5:00 P.M Saturday afternoon and should provide the perfect warm-up for the acts to follow. Required Listening: Catamaran, Fish on the Sand, Sacred Sands
The Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are one of the most enduring acts from the early days of alternative music. Known for their atonal, angular vocals and distinctly pitchy saxophone, the Psychedelic Furs established one of the classic sounds of the eighties at the decade's outset. Though they haven't produced an album since they split in 1992, they have been touring with founding brothers Richard and Tim Butler since reforming in the early aughts. They’re set to take to stage at 7:00 P.M just an hour and fifteen minutes before fellow early alternative rockers Echo & the Bunnymen, so be prepared to hustle across the fairgrounds if you want to catch both. Required Listening: Love My Way, The Ghost in You (featured in Stranger Things Season Two, neat!), Pretty In Pink
The Flaming Lips The standard bearers for weird alternative rock since their mainstream breakthrough of the late nineties, The Flaming Lips will cap off Bellwether with their famously flamboyant live show. The Flaming Lips have been releasing albums for the last three decades, and with that kind of backlog of material, it’s anyone’s guess what they might pull out. However, with The Flaming Lips, it’s more about how they play than what they play. Their most recent tour was described as “rock's greatest acid punch party,” so be prepared for Bellwether to finish with a dive off the deep end. Required Listening: Do You Realize??, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1, Race For the Prize
This Pine Box After the festival proper concludes, campers will be treated to a set by local up and comers This Pine Box. Set to take place 11:30 in the Camper’s Village, This Pine Box play music well suited to an after-party, with a firm emphasis on party. Though they have yet to release a full album, This Pine Box has already demonstrated a gift for writing fun Indie Rock jams. Saturday is full of great legacy acts, but This Pine Box will be a treat for anyone who sticks around to hear them. Required Listening: Dance with Me One More Time, Point of View, Way Out